|
Lesson Plan:
Greetings and Introductions
Almost all conversations start with a
greeting. There are several expressions that are
commonly used as greeting, some formal and some
informal. Which to use, of course depends on the
situation.
Introductions
When
you meet and greet someone for the first time
introductions are needed. There are a number of standard
expressions that can be used for introductions. Take a
look at some of them.
English Expressions
|
Expression
|
|
Response |
|
Hello,
I’m ( ... Ms. Jaines).
|
|
Hello,
Ms. Jaines,
I’m Susan Appleton. |
|
My name
is ( ... John Grey).
|
|
Nice
to meet you Mr. Grey, I’m Mrs. Sukjoy. |
|
I’m
(... George Franks. What's your
name)? |
|
My name is Sopida, Sopida Hakam.
It’s
a
pleasure to
meet you Mr. Franks. |
|
Allow
me to introduce myself. My name is
( ...
Frank
Jeffers).
|
|
I'm
delighted to meet you Mr.Jeffers. My name
is
Pornpan Orasa. |
Introducing others
On occasion, you may find yourself in a situation where
you have to introduce one person to another. Look at
these possible expressions that are used for this.
English Expressions
|
Expression
|
|
Response |
|
Sam:
Peter,
I would like to introduce
(... Miss Helen
Cranston).
Helen:
Nice to meet you too Mr.
Kellogg. |
|
Peter:
Hello Miss Cranston, nice to meet
you. |
|
Bob:
Min Ju, this is ( ... my friend Betty
Watson).
Betty:
Same
here. |
|
Min Ju:
Hi
Ms. Watson, a pleasure to
meet
you. |
|
Alice:
Harry,
let me introduce ( ...my
supervisor,
Mr.
Lee).
Mr. Lee:
Good to meet
you too. But
please,
call me
Sammy. |
|
Harry:
Mr. Lee, it’s good to meet you. |
Point to remember
Many
beginning learners use the expression “Nice to meet you” even when
they interact with a
person they have already been
introduced
to. This expression (Nice to meet you) is only used
at a first
meeting, not after that. Instead, if greeting a person
for the second
time, use “Nice to see
you again”
Farewells
Just as
there are several standard expressions for greetings,
there are also expressions of farewell. The farewell
itself is generally very short- one or two words.
However, many times people add something to the
expressions, depending on what they want to happen in
the future or the situation.
Expressions
Goodbye
Bye
So long
Catch
you later
I have to run
I have
to be going now
So long Later dude
Good day
Extensions to farewells
See
you again
I hope to see you again
See you
later (soon)
Call me
Point to remember
Bye
Bye
is an
expression that
very
young children use when they
are first
beginning
to learn to
talk or on very rare occasions by women, but
almost
never by most adults.
Well Being
After
the greeting are finished the conversation should be
continued in some way. One of the most common ways is is
ask about the other persons well being. Again, there are
several expressions that can be used for this. The
responses to such inquiries will, of course, depend on
how one actually feels. Lets take a look at these.
|
Expressions
|
Responses
|
| |
IF GOOD
|
|
How are
you?
|
Great. |
|
How’s
it going?
|
Couldn’t be better. |
|
How are things? |
Fantastic. |
| |
IF SO-SO
|
|
How
are things going?
|
Could
be worse. |
|
How
have you been?
|
I can’t
complain. |
|
How do
you feel?
|
Not bad |
| |
IF BAD |
|
How
goes it?
|
I’ve
had better days. |
|
How are you doing?
|
Not too
good. |
|
How's life
treating you? |
Lousy. |
English Dialogue
Students should work together in pairs and read the
following dialogue, one student reading one part, the other
student reading the other. Note the expressions used
in the
dialogue and the
progression of the conversation. The dialogue can be used as a
model to have similar conversations.
Sam:
Hello, you look lost. Can I be of assistance?
Mary:
Oh, thanks. You’re right, I am lost. I’m looking
for the Student Union building?
Sam:
You’re close; it’s just across the lawn. It’s the
three story brick building over
there.
Mary:
I see, well thanks a lot. You’ve been a big help.
Sam:
Excuse me for saying so, but you’re not from
around here, are you? Are you
British
or
what?
Mary:
Actually I’m Australian. I’m a new transfer student. You’re an American, I
assume?
Sam:
Yes, by the way I’m Sam, Sam Jones.
Mary:
I’m Mary Donald. Pleased to meet you.
Sam:
So how long have you been in the States, Mary?
Mary:
I’ve been here about three weeks now. So,
what’s your major Sam?
Sam:
I’m a pre-med student. What’s yours?
Mary:
I’m not sure yet, but I’m kind of interested in
sociology.
Sam:
So, do you live in the dorm?
Mary:
Actually no, I have a small apartment about
five
blocks from here. Well, I have
to run.
Thanks
for
your help.
Maybe we’ll bump into each other again
sometime.
Sam:
Could be, it’s a pretty small campus. Nice to meet you,
Mary. See you later.
Mary:
So long.
After reading, close
your book and tell your partner a summary of the
dialogue. Then
switch and
have your partner tell his or her summary. Start like
this:
This dialogue is about two
people who meet...This
may seem silly, since you both already know what the
dialogue is about, but the purpose is to practice using
your English, not to give information or test your
reading skills.
Conversation Activities
1. Pair work-
Role Play
The situation:
Meeting new people
Working with a partner, role
play the situation, using the information below
The
roles:
See items below
1. One partner is a new student at a university
meeting his/her major professor for the first
time.
2. One partner has recently moved to a new neighborhood and is meeting their next door neighbor for
the first
time.
3. On partner is a new employee at a company meeting a coworker for the first time.
4. Both partners are strangers at a mutual friend’s party meeting for the first time.
5. One partner is a frightened earthling who is meeting a very friendly ET, who is here on earth for
vacation.
The ET knows English.
6. Both partners are meeting blind dates.
2. Pair work
Interview someone in the class you do not know well.
After the interview is over,
the
interviewer
could give a
short
introduction
of the person to the whole class or
to small
groups of 4
to 6
people. Questions
you
may
want to ask
during the
interview
include:
|
- name |
- age |
|
- where they are from
|
- job or major |
|
- number of people in their family
|
-
hobbies |
|
-
his or her goal in life
|
- religion |
|
-
what their family members do
|
- marital status |
|
-
favorite kinds of music (or food, movies, etc)
|
-
why they want to learn English |
|
